Student movement discusses education and globalisation
By Sean Healy
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Representatives of more than 30 organisations in the Asia-Pacific met on September 4-8 to discuss ways to combat anti-student policies being forced on higher education systems worldwide.
The conference, organised by the Asian Students Association (ASA) and hosted by the democratic student organisations of Bangladesh, attracted participants from around the region, including Burma, East Timor, Nepal, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. There were even representatives from Mongolia and Fiji, and a representative from blockaded Iraq.
It soon became clear to all participants that students in every country were facing the privatisation of universities and the conversion of higher education into a commodity.
Fee hikes in the Philippines; restrictions on access to university for the poor in Bangladesh; course curricula designed for the needs of business in Hong Kong; declining student income support in Australia; legislative attacks on student unions in NZ; physical attacks on student unions in India — all sounded strikingly familiar.
Also familiar were the justifications presented for these attacks. In every corner of the region, anti-student policies are justified by governments as being "in the national interest" and "designed to create a flexible, responsive and competitive university sector".
The major task conference delegates devoted themselves to was providing a thorough critique and response to UNESCO's "Draft World Declaration on Higher Education", which will be presented to the World Conference on Higher Education, October 5-9 in Paris.
UNESCO claims this document is the result of extensive consultation with all "stake-holders" and offers a "bold vision" for "the most radical change higher education has ever been required to undertake". It pays lip service to Â鶹´«Ã½ in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that state "everyone has the right to education" and that "higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit".
In fact, its "vision" is that promoted by governments and big business: a university system which churns out skilled graduates on demand to business' specifications at minimal cost.
UNESCO claims such policies are simply a function of "the nature, scope and pace of change in present-day society, notably the globalisation of economies, finance and trade". Despite the UNESCO declaration's high-sounding double talk, it is a product of pragmatism and a willing acceptance of the privatisation and commodification of education.
As UNESCO representative, G. Parsuramen explained to a meeting of ASA in August: "We have to accept reality — not all countries can afford to subsidise higher education. We have to be pragmatic in our approach."
ASA and the Bangladesh conference clearly rejected this approach. Conference participants reaffirmed their commitment to a free and universally accessible higher education system, one which contributes to social and economic justice.
As the final "Declaration of Unity" stated: "We believe that the solutions that UNESCO is offering to solve the crisis of higher education will not answer the problem, but will only intensify this crisis. The UNESCO solution, with its faithful subservience to the philosophy and policies of globalisation, will only strengthen imperialist control of education. Moreover, it will only serve to institutionalise and legitimise the assaults on the rights of the students.
"There is a great need for the students to unite and face these attacks on our right to education. With our common thrust of protecting the rights and upholding the welfare of the students, we vow to continue to expose the anti-student globalisation scheme. We vow to pursue the struggle of the students for an education that is free and will genuinely serve the interests of the people."
[Sean Healy is the national coordinator of Resistance and represented Resistance at the Bangladesh conference.]